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Oration 



raONOl^NCED 



BY SAMUEL H. SMITH, ESQUIRE^ 



CITY OF WASHINGTON, 



MONDAY, THE FIFTH OF JULY, 1818. 



REQUEST OF A GENERAL MEETING 
OF THE CITIZENS, 

Aim 

PUBLISHED AT THE DESIRE OF THE COMmTTBQ 
OF ARRANGEMENT^ 



Washington citys 
printed by roger c. weightman* 

18)S. 



/g/3 



ORATION. 



WE are assembled, fellow citizens, to com- 
memorate the great day which gave birth to our 
independence. In other regions, the multitude ea- 
gerly repair to splendid exhibitions, set off by the 
highest efforts of scenic art, to pay their homage to 
some mortal elevated by his virtues or crimes above 
subject millions; here freemen surround the altar of 
liberty, to pour out, with a simplicity characteristic 
of our institutions, the effusions of gratitude to tlie 
Ruler of nations for the inestimable blessing of go- 
verning themselves. In the one case man, in the 
other, principle is the object of homage. It is un- 
necessary, before such an audience, to dwell on thp 
superiority of the one to the other, or to trace the 
contrasted influence of each on the moral character 
or physical condition of man. It is sufficient for us 
that we are conscious of the dignity of our lot, and 
that we unhesitatingly prefer it to the trappings, 
however gaudy, of those who draw the regal car. 

It is the remark of a distinguished historian, that 
freedom makes men grave. The remark is verified 
by universal experience. He who has much to lose 
will be naturally solicitous and habitually employed 
in devising means for its preservation. On this day 
we are especially called upon to cherish high and 
solemn reflections. Whether we look back upon 
the solemnity of the scene that ushered us into exis- 
tence, the portentous circumstances that preceded, or 



^ 



the imminent perils that followed it, the bright glories 
with which it was achieved, or the rich fruits it has 
since bestowed on ourselves and the whole human 
race, we have abundant cause to awaken our most se- 
rious reflections. We are above all, interested in 
inquiring, what then made us an independent nation, 
that we may thence learn what is now best calculated 
to preserve our independence. This is the duty I 
have prescribed to myself on this occasion, which it 
will be my effort to discharge without blending with 
it any feelings derogatory from the dignity of the 
theme. 

Union made us an independent nation in 'seventy- 
six; union has since preserved our independence;: 
and to union we must be indebted for its perpetua- 
tion. 

Acts of oppression, such as you have heard recit- 
ed in the energetic declaration of our independence, 
convinced the patriots of the revolution of the neces- 
sity of appealing to arms in vindication of rights un- 
blushkigly violated by the rulers of Great Britain, 
They felt indignantly die wrongs and insults to which 
we had so long been wantonly exposed, and notwith- 
standing the smallness of their numbers, and the 
want of an established government, together with the 
destitution of provisions, clothing, and arms, they 
heroically determined to take the last step that re- 
mained, and either gloriously establish their rights, 
or nobly perish in the attempt. The cause was a just 
one; Heaven smiled upon their arms; the solid foun- 
dations of liberty were laid, and a superstructure 
erected, which has for thirty-seven years sheltered 
us from the fury of the blackest storms, and under 



which we have continued, almost without inlcrrup- 
tion, to augment our stock of happiness. 

It was union of sentiment that gave birth to this 
memorable act, and united councils, aided by united 
exertions, that carried its principles into effect. 

Local partialities, personal attachments, discordant 
religious tenets, variant political institutions, customs, 
manners, and occupations subsisted among the Ame- 
rican colonies in as great, if not greater strength in 
those days, than they do at present among the seve- 
ral members of our confederacy. But this apparent 
contrariety of interests opposed no obstacle to union. 
It was realised that the attainment of great ends in- 
variably requires, not merely great exertions, but 
likewise great sacrifices; and such was the virtue of 
those days, that our progenitors courted danger and 
submitted to sacrifice with a magnanimity that just- 
ly esteemed peril and privation the truest tests of pa- 
triotism. It was not then the constant discussion 
which section of country endured the greatest evils; 
every section was proud of its ability to repel the 
common danger that menaced the country; every 
section promptly drew forth its resources in the com- 
mon cause in which we were embarked, without anv 
invidious comparison of relative claims or means. 

No measure, while pending, was, perhaps, ever 
combated ^vith more warmth, than the act of inde- 
pendence itself. The best men diifered with regard 
to its policy. Such was the collision of opinion in 
Congress, that the issue long hung in suspense. But 
the sacred die Vv'as finally cast, and the colonies de- 
clared independent. It was then that that union of 
sentiment and action, which is the vital principle of 



6 



a free state, bhone forth with a splendor that ought 
to irradiate tlie present times. The boldest oppo- 
nents of the measure instantly became its active 
-friends; and their voices were raised or their swords 
drawn in its defence. They never dreamt of courting 
the forbearance or flying to the standard of a foreign 
power; but resolutely staked their all on the issue. 
One part of the continent might readily have found 
a paltry present gain in making open terms with the 
enemy, or in withholding its quota of men and mo- 
ney. But such a derogatory idea was no where har- 
bored. No narrow views or local jealousies obscur- 
ed the clear perception of the great eventual benefits 
that would flow from the establishment of an entire 
independence of any foreign dominion. No sooner 
had the American people assumed a station amidst 
independent nations than every foreign predilection 
vanished." An honest, sometimes a vehement diver- 
sity of opinion prevailed within the walls of Con- 
gress; but there it terminated. The extent, to 
which it was often carried, is but little known. A 
distinguished member of that illustrious band of pa- 
triots has assured me, that to such a degree was it 
indulged, that while participating in their delibera- 
tions, he was often led to fear the issue of our con- 
test; but no sooner had he mounted his horse and 
mingled among the people, than their undaunted 
courage and confidence of success dissipated every 
doubt. Here, in the great body of the people, was 
the redeeming virtue, the perennial spring, the ex- 
haustless fountain of a thousand streams, whose col- 
lected force poured the mountain torrent on our foe. 
There were, it is true, even in those honest 



times, men, neither few in number nor inconsidera- 
ble in influence, who opposed openly or insidiously 
the will of the majority. Did this appal their spi- 
rit, or impair the vigor of their measures? On the 
contrary, it transfused new spirit into their hearts, 
and imparted additional vigor to their measures. 
They wisely deemed it proper to apply a force pro- 
portioned to the increased resistance, whether from 
within or without). They did not permit their course 
to be impeded, or their arm stayed by internal disaf- 
fection. The will of the majority, clearly expressed, 
was the law of the land, and they felt that there was 
no alternative, but that of enforcing this law, or of 
suffering it to be trampled under foot; thereby sub- 
stituting the will of the few for the dominion of the 
many. They did not hesitate a moment, but crush- 
ed the hydra of faction to death, with a vigor that 
taught treason to beware of the danger to which it 
was exposed. 

It is difficult, if not impossible, for us to form an 
adequate conception of the sublimity of the spectacle 
then presented to the world. If a great man strug- 
gling with adversity is an object worthy of the con- 
templation of Deity, what august honors, what daz* 
zling glories encompass the community, that, with- 
out numbers, without money, without clothing, with- 
out arms or military stores, without an organized 
government, breasts the storm of war with one of 
the most colossal powers of the world, and through 
a seven years conflict pursues, with unabated zeal 
and unbroken fortitude, its lofty purpose, amidst 
disasters and defeats, amidst blighted hopes and 
sinking fortunes. Holy spirit of liberty! who, after 
such a struggle and such an issue, will undertake to 



8 



assign limits to thy power? The impetuous torrent, 
the mighty whirlwind, the roaring sea, and the raging 
volcano, are the sublime terrors, with which nature 
displays her energies; but what are they in their 
united force, to thy magic power, that gave to an in- 
fant people wisdom to plan, and strength to effect 
the conquest of a nation, the valor of whose arms re- 
sounded through the universe, whose empire extend- 
ed to every quarter of the globe? 

This sentiment of union, energetically enforced, 
achieved our liberties, and gave us peace and renown. 
The same sentiment, displayed with equal lustre, 
gave us the system of government under which we 
have so long flourished. In the illustrious body 
that devised it, a sublime spirit of patriotism animat- 
ed the sages of which it was composed. No mem- 
ber carried his particular ends; but a godlike com^ 
promise crowned their united labors with success. 
Personal rights were sacredly respected, and in the 
distribution of powers, a magnanimous policy on 
the part of the great states, by bestowing on the 
weaker members of the confederacy larger portions 
of powxr than their relative numbers or wealth enti- 
tled them to, had the double effect of bringing them 
cheerfully into the system and strengthening their 
sovereignties. In this system of government, which, 
from its harmony, simplicity, and comprehensive- 
ness, would seem to be the offspring of a divine 
mind, concession is stamped on every feature. Yet 
the body that framed it was, we all know, torn with 
dissention, and its most sanguine members often 
despaired of the result. But no sooner had a ma- 
jority concurred in its adoption, than the scene 



9 



brightened, and nearly all its members honorably 
aided in its ratification. 

In the several bodies that ratified it, as well as in 
the nation itself, while its adoption was pending 
debate ran high. The human mind boldly asserted 
its high prerogative of independent thought. It was 
vigorously opposed. A majority of the states, how- 
ever, gave it their sanction; and we again contem- 
plate an illustrious display, on a broader scale, of 
the vital principle of a free state, the prevalence of 
the will of the majority clearly expressed. All 
united to carry its provisions honestly into effect. 
He, whose valor had achieved our independence, 
was wisely placed at the helm. Public faith revived, 
agriculture and manufactures were quickened into 
new life, commerce whitened the ocean with our 
canvass, and the national character shone with new 
glory. 

The harmony of sentiment and action, that pro- 
duced this interesting result, guaranteed its perpe- 
tuity by laying the foundations of an indissoluble 
union of the states that compose our confederacy. 
I say indissoluble union, because I firmly believe 
that it contains within itself, as much as any human 
institution can, the imperishable elements of self- 
preservation Does it not seem, indeed, to be 
stamped with the seal of Heaven? In the material 
world we behold with pious rapture the splendid 
orbs that compose our system revolving round the 
bright luminary that gives us light and life, all occu- 
pying their assigned places, moving and acting on 
each other in harmony and peace. In our political 
system, we behold the general government uphold- 

2 



10 



iiig and upheld by the state governments, all movmg 
in their allotted orbits, reciprocally imparting and 
receiving benefit. The mysterious principle of gra- 
vitation maintains the one; an enlightened sense of 
common interests supports the other. Both are 
the emanation of Divine beneficence; and may not 
the same Almighty power, that has fixed the period 
of the one, give equal duration to the other? 

To maintain their liberties, the American people 
must be habitually impressed with their value and 
the felicity of their lot. They must, too, in the 
bosom of enjoyment, be alive to the dangers that 
surround them. Vigilance will generally avert them; 
but they must be ready, in the last resort, to subdue 
them by physical force. Profiting by experience, 
misfortunes, which will inevitably sometimes befal 
them, as they have befallen every nation, will shed 
new light on their future policy. The best fashion- 
ed theories must yield to stubborn facts, and practi- 
cal principles alone be the statesman's guide. 

On this solemn occasion, then, fellow-citizens, let 
us, drawing on the wisdom of our forefathers and 
emulating their virtues, seriously revolve in our 
minds, and resolutely determine to discharge, the 
duties imposed upon us by the imminent posture 
of our afiairs. 

The first and highest duty imposed upon us is, 
energetically to carry into effect the national will. 
That will has proclaimed a great and powerful na- 
tion our enemy. Having sued for justice, until the 
world began to doubt whether any insult or injury 
could induce us to unsheath the sword, let us, now 
it is unsheathed in as just and noble a cause as ever 



11 



lired the breasts of freemen, show our enemy the 
strength of our arm, and bring her back to a sense 
of justice by the only remaining means in our 
power. War is unquestionably 

. ..." A monster of so frightful mien, 
" As to be hated needs but to be seen." 

But it is a monster which tyranny and rapacity have 
been prone, from the commencement of the world, 
to let loose upon the honest and defenceless, when- 
ever their riches offered a prize for cupidity, and 
which can only be kept in subjection by force. 

The enforcement of the will of the majority, clear- 
ly expressed, as has been observed, is the vital prin- 
ciple of a free state. Where the observance of this 
principle ends tyranny begins. For, if a minority, 
however respectable, can once successfully oppose 
it, a precedent is laid for subsequent invasion, until 
finally a few men, if not a single man, shall con- 
trol the whole nation. It 'becomes us, therefore, to 
watch over this principle with unsleeping vigilance. 
This is our duty at all times; at this time it is a duty 
of the most sacred obligation. A war, in defence 
of rights inseparable from national sovereignty, is 
waged against an enemy too ready to employ every 
kind of means against us; a war that demands 
the whole physical force of the nation. An effec- 
tual resistance to this principle, by diminishing the 
quantum and impairing the vigor of our physical 
force, tends directly to co-operate with the enemy. 
Whatever the motives may be of those who resist 
it, the effect is obvious. This solemn consideration 
should and must arrest the spirit of opposition in its 



i2 



infuriate career. Men, who have a common coun- 
try, whose stake is the same in its prosperity, who 
must rise or fall with it, cannot, will not, long con- 
tinue to do indirectly that which they would scorn 
to do directly. But should they resist the solemn 
promulgation of the national will, denounce their 
government, and instead of aiding, oppose, the mea- 
sures adopted for giving effect to that will, the duty 
imposed upon the government and people is as cleap 
as a sun-beam. They will join hand in hand, and 
move together. Rulers, deaf to the idle clamor that 
assails them, will call forth with vigor the resources 
of the nation. They will dare to do their duty, re- 
gardless of personal consequences. They will re- 
pose on the patriotism of the people as ©n a rock of 
adamant. Instead of entertaining fears of their dis- 
position to contribute pecuniary or personal aid, ani- 
mated by a generous confidence, they will boldly 
call for all that is required by the exigency of affairs. 
The candor and decision of those in power will 
awaken sympathetic feelings in an enlightened peo- 
ple, who will rally round servants of tried virtue, 
and carry them and their measures on the irresisti- 
ble tide of popular opinion. The enthusiasm of a 
nation of freemen defending their rights is incalcu. 
lable. Composed of the millions we count, it must 
sweep all before it. Let me not be misunderstood. 
I would not abridge the constitutional right of any 
man to speak or write what he pleases of the motives 
or measures of rulers, subject only to the regular 
animadversion of the laws; but, at the same time, I 
would not suffer the power of the majority to act to 
be infringed. In proportion as this power is invaded. 



13 



it should be enforced. Freedom of opinion belongs 
to every one; authority to act belongs exclusively 
to those whom a nation invests with it; and should 
those who are lighteously employed in the exercise 
of this authority be defamed by bad men, good men 
must speak out in their defence, and unmask their 
traducers, not in the language of ribaldry, but in 
the tones of indignant virtue. A government, thus 
upheld, will, like the monarch of the forest, lift its 
head to Heaven, and strike its roots the deeper for 
the storms that beat upon it. 

This, fellow- citizens, is no insignificant contest 
about subordinate or doubtful rights. On the issue 
depends tlip very independence declared in 'seventy- 
six. We are measuring our strength, in the main- 
tenance of our rights of sovereignty, wiih the same 
nation which at that day, not only claimed us for sub- 
jects, but treated us as slaves; and which, in the ar- 
duous conflict that ensued, heaped upon us every 
species of injury and insult that unrestrained power 
and inhuman feeling could inflict. Were I to open 
the wounds that then bled; were I to point to the 
blazing towns and ravaged plains that disgraced her 
arms; were I to exhibit the floating dungeons of hell 
in which incarcerated thousands of the bravest spi- 
rits that ever animated the human form suffered an 
aggregation of horrors which no pencil can paint; I 
should but inadequately pcurtray the sufferings 
which an unnatural parent inflicted on her children. 
In what force this ferocious spirit still lives, the 
shores of the Chesapeake, the defenceless towns of 
Havre, Frederick and George, the ruthfess toma- 
'hawk of the savage sharpened by British ferocity, 



1# 



the horrid scalp, the leading trophy of their coun- 
cil-board, emphatically proclaim. With such a foe, 
force, naked force, is our only champion, Widi 
such a foe the solid peace, we all wish, must be 
" achieved by the valor of our arms." This then 
is not a question about this or that administration; 
but it is a question whether you will support anj-- 
administration that draws the sword in defence of 
your dearest rights. More — it is a question, whether 
your constitution, that proud monument of human 
wisdom, as you have fondly esteemed it, is ade- 
quate to the maintenance of your sovereignty. It 
is a question, whether a republic of confederated 
states, founded on the enjoyment of equal rights, 
can endure. This is the true question. Your go- 
vernment is legislating, and you are acting, not 
merely for yourselves, but for generations yet un- 
born. Concentrate your resources, apply them with 
^•igor, push them home to the interests of your 
enemy, compel her to do you justice, and your re- 
Avard will be peace, prosperity, and honor to your- 
selves, with the inheritance of liberty transmitted 
inviolate to your children, and through them to the 
remotest posterity. On the other hand, penuriously 
withhold your resources, use them with timidity, 
shrink from the terrors of the conflict, and you may 
obtain a peace, but it will be the precursor of dis- 
grace and fuin, entailing upon your offspring the 
servility of slaves, or the hard task of breaking the 
chains you have forged for them. Gracious God! 
Is it necessary to hold this language to the imme- 
diate descendants of the patriots of the revolution? 
To talk of forging chains for freemen! Where is 



15 



the spirit of Washington and Franklin, and the 
whole host of our revolutionary heroes and states- 
men? Has it ascended to Heaven with them? 
Have they lived in vain? Is their glory but the 
flash of an angry cloud, presaging storms and deso- 
lation? Is it the pestilent vapor, shining for a mo- 
ment, only to betray us into ruin? No, fellow 
citizens, no. It is the pillar of fire, that, if we are 
not false to ourselves, will lead us safely through 
the perils that encompass us. It points the way to 
glory. Follow in its tract with undaunted souls 
and the roaring lion, with his howling savages, will 
fly for refuge to their deepest dens and thickest 
forests. 

As one of the best means of prosecuting with 
vigor the arduous contest in which we are engaged, 
as well as of insuring permanent security and de- 
fence, are we not solemnly called upon forthwith to 
lay the foundations of a navy commensurate with the 
present, and increasing with the expanding resources 
of the nation? Heretofore public opinion has been 
much and honestly divided on this head. For 
many years subsequent to the adoption of our pre- 
sent system of government, the majority of the 
American people were, it is believed, decidedly op- 
posed to the establishment of a large naval force. 
Measuring the resources of the country with those 
of the great maritime powers of Europe, they 
thought that any effort made by us to meet force 
with force on the ocean would be chimerical. They 
were not insensible to the benefits of commerce, but 
they were of opinion that great as they might be, 
they would be more than countervailed by the ex- 



16 



pense of protecting it by a naval force, even if 
such protection were practicable. They, moreover, 
thought, that as our articles of export were chiefly 
of the first necessity to the maritime nations of Eu- 
rope, while those imported by us were for the most 
part luxuries, they would find it their permanent 
interest to abstain from harrassing our commerce. 
At this period, too, the empire of the seas was warm- 
ly contested by rival powers, and it was natural to 
infer, that should either of those powers meditate 
serious aggressions upon us, we should, to a great 
extent, be shielded by the others. But this state 
of affairs has undergone a radical change. The 
dominion of the deep is usurped by one power, who, 
asserting over it a gloomy despotism, proclaims that 
not a flag shall wave but at her pleasure. This 
expected check, therefore, is gone, and we are left 
to rely on ourselves. 

The policy, likewise, of leaving commerce to 
protect itself is abandoned. A large and respec- 
table section of the country has called for naval 
protection. A respect for its convictions, and, 
above all, a devotion to the union, have induced the 
nation to enter into war with the greatest naval 
power of the world. 

Do not these important facts entirely change the 
aspect of this question? An honest statesman bows 
to experience, justly esteeming it in politics the 
unerring test of truth. If it is settled that our trade 
is to be protected by a naval force, and if that force 
can only be found among ourselves, are we not im- 
periously required to disclose it with vigor? And 
do not the proud trophies of our prowess, which 



17 



have lit up so much joy in our own hearts, and hay^ 
illuminated our national character with such daz- 
zling glory, point to the efficient instrument for assert- 
ing our rights and avenging our wrongs? Further; 
can any measure be adopted, that is better fitted, 
while it insures us respect abroad, to increase har- 
mony and union at home? Give the advocates 
of commercial protection all they demand; not 
a meagre navy, that can only distinguish itself, 
however gloriously, by occasional triumphs; but 
a bold flotilla that can strike as well as receive a 
blow. Rest assured that it will touch to the quick 
the vulnerable points of your enemy; and, if the era 
of civilization is to be polluted by the barbarities 
of gothic times, will teacJi their guilty perpetrators, 
by a dreadful retaliation, the policy of future for- 
bearance. 

The fate of Carthage, however tritely alluded to, 
is, on this head, pregnant with instruction. Her em- 
pire extended over the then navigable world, and her 
dominions were vastly superior to those of Rome, 
whose territory at that day was confined to Italy* 
Intoxicated with wealth and power, she became the 
tjTant of the ocean. Rome, for the first time, fitted 
out a fleet, which from ignorance was annihilated by 
a storm. Another fleet was sent out and was stranded. 
A third was destroyed by a storm. A fourth shared 
the same fate. A fifth was met by an inferior Car- 
thagenian force, and was defeated. Undaunted by 
these reiterated calamities, Rome exerted her highest 
power, and fitted out a fleet of eight hundred gallies, 
all of which were again destroyed. A still more 
powerful armament was launched on the deep; vic- 

3 



18 



tory at last crowned the Roman arms, and secured 
an honorable peace, after a contest of four and twen- 
ty years. The subsequent fate of Carthage need 
not be told. Let us hope, as I believe we all do, 
that it may not be that of Britain. No remark, how- 
ever, is more true or awful, than that of a deceased 
revolutionary statesman, "That where nations raise 
themselves by proudly trampling upon others, al- 
though they may by bravery and management ob- 
tain the most conspicuous eminence, yet, by the im- 
mutable law of our nature that forbids the existence 
of happiness without virtue, the causes of declension 
constantly intermingle with their criminal excess- 
es — 

' Grow with their growth, and strengthen with their strength:* 

"And at the period when their destroying glory 
reaches its greatest height, then precisely are they 
nearest to their fall.*' 

In the mean time, so long as our naval force is 
unequal to repelling the enemy from our shores, or 
preventing her from seriously obstructing our inter- 
nal navigation, we are under the highest obligations 
to push on with spirit every species of domestic im- 
provement, and more especially roads, canals, and 
manufactures. War, with all its evils, properly im- 
proved, brings with it to a great nation, many bene- 
fits, which may not compensate, but certainly do 
greatly alleviate its calamities. It rouses the human 
mind from the torpor in which the calm of peace 
is apt to engulph it; it awakens its energies by the 
difficulties and dangers to be vanquished; it arrests 
its ordinary habits of thought by a recurrence to 



19 

first principles; it calls into the public service the 
concentrated powers of the whole community; it 
not only awakens, but creates talent; it supplants the 
debasing feelings of sloth and avarice by purer and 
nobler sentiments; and, what is infinitely valuable, 
it enables a people justly to estimate their strength, 
Acts omitted or errors committed are drawn boldly 
into view, and the deserted path of duty becomes 
prominently conspicuous from the elevated ground 
the public attention occupies. It is at such event- 
ful periods that we expect, in a nation of freemen, 
errors to be exploded, and the solid and permanent 
interests of the people prosecuted on a scale of libe- 
rality and grandeur. The cold calculations of per- 
sonal aggrandisement, the grovelling spirit of local 
prejudice, fade away before the effulgence of patri- 
otism. The pressure of external danger binds to- 
gether government and people, whose interests be- 
come identified, in the beneficent measures adopted 
by the one and the hberal support bestowed by the 
other. 

Shall we then, fellow -citizens, suflfer this propi- 
tious season to pass unimproved, without the ac- 
complishment of some great domestic object, that 
shall atone, perhaps more than atone, for the compli- 
cated evils of the war in which we are engaged? 
Shall we neglect the immediate formation of a plan 
for insuring hereafter an easy and uninterrupted com- 
mercial intercourse by means of roads and canals? 
Shall we neglect the means of building up those im- 
portant manufactures, whose products are essential 
to our comfort? Should the present war be protract- 
ed to an unexpected period, the accomplishment of 



so 



these great objects would more than indemnify us 
for all its evils. But they are also among the most 
obvious means of abridging its duration, of diminish- 
ing its evils while it lasts, and of averting future 
wars. Who will be bold enough to say, that this 
war would have existed, had these great objects 
been some years since effected on that grand scale, 
which every thing in our moral character and phy- 
sical circumstances seems to demmd? It was our 
avidity for British fabrics that we ourselves might 
have made, and our inability, without exposing our- 
selves on the ocean, to transport the varied products 
of our soil from one part of the country to another, 
that emboldened our enemy to believe that we had 
not virtue to dispense with the one, and that she pos- 
sessed the power of interrupting our supply of the 
other. In what degree she had just cause for this 
belief, present as well as past incidents too well at- 
test. How long we submitted to her wrongs from 
the dread of losing her fabrics, it is useless to say; 
but it is a factj too stubborn to be disputed, that at 
this moment the greatest evil of the war flows from 
the blockade of our ports and coasts, and our want 
of a safe and easy internal channel of communica- 
tion. Let us then seize the present period for car- 
rying these great objects into effect. Let us, like a 
band of brothers, all unite in a measure, in which, 
there is no party spirit, no foreign influence, no per- 
sonal ambition, no local aggrandisement. Let us 
place our most important manufactures upon a solid 
and permanent basis, that cannot be shaken or un- 
dermined by returning peace, or the temporary sa- 
crifices that may be, made by our manufacturing. 



21 



rivals. Let us, above all, and at any expense, se- 
cure by good roads and bold canals, that undisturb- 
ed internal commerce, which the greatest econo- 
mist of the age pronounces to be always superior in 
value, in every nation, to its foreign trade. Had 
these two great objects been seasonably effected, the 
pressure of war would now be comparatively light. 
Manufactured goods would be better and cheaper, 
and our agricultural products would command high- 
er prices. There would not be that great change in 
the value of articles of consumption, which so seriw 
ously affects our habits of living. Our commercial 
intercourse with each other, instead of being stag- 
nant, would be invigorated by the great demands of 
war, and we should gain nearly as much from the 
augmentation of our internal, as we lost by the dimi- 
nution of our foreign trade. A just nation, in pro- 
portion as she produces and possesses the means? 
of interchanging the articles' she consumes, will be 
exempt from war, when involved in it will feel it 
the least, and wage it with the greatest vigor. To 
what, but to this circumstance, are we to ascribe 
the relatively light pressure of war on England her- 
self, and the vigor with which she invariably con- 
ducts it? That she is so constantly involved in war 
springs not from this cause, but from her insatiable 
spirit of avarice, that for its gratification has de- 
luged with human blood the fairest regions of 
the globe. 

But it is unnecessary, fellow citizens, to dilate 
on this topic. It is a topic, I trust, familiar to your 
minds. For many years past, the press has teemed 
with essays enforcing the same advice that is now 



23 



inculcated; the best and ablest raen in the nation 
have urged it in every shape. On tliis very ground, 
but a short time since, we heard the warning voice 
of a good and great man,* now no more, M^hose vir- 
tues endeared him to his friends, whose talents re- 
commended him to the high honors of his country, 
T^^hose pliilanthropic pen had vindicated the cause of 
freedom Oii both sides of the Atlantic, and whose 
eminent attainments had brightened the literature of 
the new world; on this ground, in this very spot, 
we heard his warning voice, enjoining emphatically 
what I have so feebly urged. 

But we may be told by a timid policy, peace is 
the season for effecting these objects, war calls for 
the whole pecuniary means of the nation. Nothing 
can be more untrue. This is the season. We have 
now a conviction of their necessity of which peace 
may deprive us; we have now virtue to adopt a plan 
on a disinterested liberal scale; we have vigor to 
prosecute it; and with regard to the means they ex- 
ist in abundance. The coffers of our monied men 
are full, and would be cheerfully devoted to such a 
purpose, provided the national faith insured a fair re- 
muneration; while the accomplishment of these ob- 
jects, so far from diminishing, would augment the 
resources required for other objects. All that is 
wanting is a dear expression of the public will by 
the general government. The object is a great na- 
tional one, and, if ever, must be effected by the con- 
stitutional interpreters of that will. They only can 
accomplish it in such a way as to embrace the in- 
terests of the whole community, without unworthy 

*Joel Barlow. 



S3 



sacrifices to local feeling. They only possess the 
power, or, if they do not, can obtain it, in a consti- 
tutional manner, by an appeal to the states. 

Blessings will light on the heads of those legisla- 
tors, who shall accomplish this inestimable object, 
which will cement our union, increase our enjoy- 
ments, ensure to us longer periods of peace, and ren- 
der us invulnerable to the inevitable wars in which 
we may be involved. The remotest generations will 
cherish the memories of the illustrious benefactors 
of their country, who, with the divine spirit of the 
Author of our being, shall have thus drawn good out 
of evil. Their patriotic labors will diminish the in- 
ducements to war, while they invigorate the means 
of prosecuting it. They will teach the American 
people to unite a martial with a pacific spirit; to 
love peace, without fearing war. We shall thus 
have done all in the power of men, not repugnant to 
our just interests and our honor, to avert war from 
our borders. Come, as sometimes come it will, to 
disturb our repose, and injustice will meet its re- 
ward. A happy, united, and powerful people will 
promptly and eftectually avenge their wrongs. Wars 
are unquestionably no less the disgrace than the 
scourge of the human race. But they seem, never- 
theless, in the mysterious system of our being, to be 
the price invariably paid) sooner or later, for the 
blessings we enjoy. A nation that is able to defend 
her rights must maintain them even at the expense 
of blood. Her honor, which is beyond all value, 
commands it: This is the attitude we must take. 
This is the attitude we have taken. We have drunk 
to its dregs the cup of humiliation. It is — thanks 
be to God! — now dashed from our lips. Never, 



S4 



never may its horrid contents again pollute them, 
and degrade us, not merely in the eyes of man- 
kind, but what is infinitely worse, in our own. 
The spirit of a free people may survive the world's 
contempt, but it cannot survive its own. Self re- 
spect is the elastic spring, without which the whole 
machine must stop. But, though we may be com- 
pelled sometimes to draw the sword, let us assidu- 
ously cultivate a love of peace. To this end, let us 
render ourselves as hidependent of foreign inter- 
course, and as invulnerable to foreign power as we 
can. Let us, by continuing to be just to all man- 
kind, cling to the vantage ground on which we now 
so honorably stand. Having taken this ground, let 
us, by our conduct, proclaim to the world our reso- 
lution, to receive no wrongs without redress, no 
insults without atonement. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




